Hiding Under the Radar
by kittenamos
Summary: When an old acquaintance of Jane's appears at the Trading Post, Tarzan starts to notice his wife's strange behavior. Can Tarzan get Jane to open up to him about their new visitor before it's to late?
1. Chapter 1

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* * *

 **Chapter 1**

As Tarzan jumped from vine to vine, making his way through the dense cover of trees, he could hear the giggles from his wife not far behind him. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw Jane surfing down the tree branches above him. Giving up the vines, the wild man leapt onto a tree in front of him and surfed down the limbs until he reached the soft grass below and turned back to watch his wife again.

"She's getting better at this," he mumbled to himself as Jane started to slide around the last turn. Tarzan reached out his arms to catch his wife, but at the speed she was going, the force of her collision with him caused them both to fall to the ground in laughter.

Still giggling, Jane pushed herself off of her husband so he could sit up. When he did, he placed a hand on her cheek. "Are you okay?" he chuckled as a few dreadlocks fell over his shoulder.

"Of course." Jane smiled lovingly up at her husband. "Come on!" she cried, getting back to her feet. "Let's go again!"

"Why don't we head over to the river now?" Tarzan asked, excitedly getting to his feet and reached to take one of Jane's hands in his own. "We can jump off the waterfalls!"

Seeing the excitement on her face at the idea, the couple began to race through the greeneries, hopping over logs and darting around trees in order to reach their destination.

Tarzan quickly took the lead, bounding ahead on his hands and feet. Jane leaned forward in her stride as she pumped her arms, determined to catch up to her husband. Her long skirt and hair blew back behind her.

When Jane saw the wild man disappear around a tree, she skimmed her bare feet across the damp grass to try and slow her speed a little, but ended up losing her balance. Catching herself with her hands, she quickly gained her footing and hurried around the tree only to get her dark green skirt caught on a thorn bush. As the sound of the cloth ripping reached her ears, the tug against her waist caused her to fall face first towards the ground, where she let out a soft groan in both annoyance and pain.

Hearing the impact, Tarzan brought himself to a stop and turned to see Jane lying on her stomach, face down, with a couple leaves spread out around the body.

"Jane!" he cried, dashing over to the fallen woman. As he approached, she raised her head slightly from the grass. Keeping her eyes glued to the forest floor, her hair fell down around her face, hiding it from view. "Jane!" Tarzan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you hurt?"

She seemed to think about this for a moment. "I don't think so," she eventually replied and slowly moved into a sitting position.

"Are you okay?"

Jane raised her head to see the concerned look on her husband's face. Giving him a shy smile, she brought a hand up to her cheek and brushed the hair out of her face. "I'm fine . . . Sorry about that."

Tarzan sent her a small smile in return and helped her back to her feet.

When Jane stood up, an unexpected feeling of the hot jungle air was felt against her upper leg. Glancing down, she discovered that her long skirt now had a huge rip that ran up to her mid-thigh.

"Oh dear," she sighed, grabbing hold of the ruined fabric.

Living in the jungle, it was hard to keep clothes clean and tidy. It had become part of her day-to-day life, and for the most part, Jane was okay with this. Nevertheless, lately it seemed like all of her clothing either had some rip or hole in it, or had a grass or mud stain that wouldn't come out no matter how hard she scrubbed at it. She was starting to run out of clean, undamaged clothes to wear.

"Great!" she cried in irritation. "We should probably head back to the tree house. I need to find something else to wear."

"Sure," Tarzan agreed, instantly abandoning his original idea to head towards the waterfalls. "We can go to the Trading Post later and get you some more stuff to wear."

* * *

After changing into one of her last suitable skirts, Tarzan and Jane started making their way towards the ocean's shore where the Trading Post was located.

As they traveled through the jungle, Jane couldn't help but to gaze up at the enormous canopy of leaves above them. Up in the trees, she spotted what at first appeared to be vines wrapped around many of the branches. Most were just plants, but as they grew closer, she realized some of them were snakes. The reptiles hissed at them as they passed. Birds could be heard from somewhere, but when she raised her head to look for them she couldn't find them, although monkeys could be seen jumping from tree to tree over their heads, screeching at each other. Looking straight up, Jane could just make out some light as the sun tried to shine through the dense cover of leaves.

On the ground, there were plants everywhere, all different. Some had big leaves that were bending backwards, while others had giant flowers all over it, and a few with thorns. To someone who wasn't used to these surroundings, everything would appear the same out here. It had taken Jane several weeks of traveling through the thick wildlife with Tarzan to figure out the landscape. Even now, she still occasionally got lost without her wild man.

Making it to the break in the trees, Tarzan and Jane stood at the top of a small hill, the vast ocean spread out before them. A ship could be seen about a mile out to sea, with a smaller boat docked at the pier.

"More supplies?" Tarzan asked, seeing what appeared to be workers unloading items from the docked boat.

"Looks like it," Jane answered as they started to make their way down the incline towards the building. "I wonder what Dumont ordered this time."

Ever since Renard Dumont moved into the jungle to establish his business, his lust for material gain had caused several mishaps. Jane just hoped that what awaited them today at their destination wasn't going to create any future problems for her and her family.

As the couple neared the building, they each sent a greeting to their friends, Hugo and Hooft, who were busy helping Renard Dumont's other workers unload the boat before entering the store.

Tarzan entered the structure first with Jane close behind him. Inside, he found the owner of the shop talking to a young man about his age. From the pieces of the conversation that he was able to catch, the newcomer seemed to be looking for someone. Tarzan didn't hear the stranger give a name, but he didn't have to wonder about this for long. Glancing over the man's shoulder, Dumont pointed at someone who was standing behind Tarzan.

"Aw, there she is now. The lovely Jane Porter," Mr. Dumont exclaimed, gesturing in the woman's direction.

The wild man paused in his advance towards the counter and turned back to find his wife still standing in the doorway. The look on her face was a mix of shock and disbelief.

Jane had recognized the man talking to Mr. Dumont even before he had turned around to see whom the businessman was pointing to. The man's shaggy dark brown hair, his light brown suit, even the way he stood and presented himself sent memories rolling through her mind.

"Jane," the man let out in a sigh, a relieved smile appearing across his face. "I can't believe I found you!" He took a couple steps towards Jane, but the woman didn't return his enthusiasm.

Instead of greeting the visitor like Tarzan expected her to do, Jane, surprise still expressed on her face, took a couple steps backwards until she had exited the building and then turned, running back the way she and Tarzan had come.

At his wife's hasty retreat, alarm crossed over Tarzan's features as he crouched in astonishment.

"Jane! Jane, wait!" the stranger cried before running after the woman, Tarzan following close behind.

While the man came to a stop at the corner of the Trading Post, Tarzan leapt onto the roof of the building to watch his wife return to the trees.

What could have caused such a reaction from Jane? She was far from the shy type. Puzzled, Tarzan carefully turned around and gazed down at the newcomer, anger flaring in him. Something about this man caused Jane to flee, but what?

Sliding down the tiled roof, he landed on his hands and feet before standing up straight and practically pounced at the man, grabbing him by his coat.

"Who are you?" he growled at the newcomer. "What do you want with Jane?"

The look of astonishment on the man's face from the unexpected attack disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. "The name's Logan Eddington," he explained. He pushed Tarzan's hands off of him and began to work at getting the wrinkles out of his clothing. "I'm Jane's fiancé."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jane could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she staggered her way back towards the tree house, at least that was where she hoped she was heading, trying not to trip over any roots or other greenery.

She could hear the monkeys shrieking at each other. Birds were singing as they flew past her and she could hear an animal growling from somewhere, but she didn't pay attention to any of this. She wasn't able to concentrate on her surroundings.

A dull throbbing started at her left temple and she was having trouble focusing on anything around her. It was hard enough trying to find her way through the dense jungle without Tarzan by her side, but her body wouldn't allow her to concentrate long enough to attempt to make it back on her own.

The young woman stumbled over something that was in her path and she paused on the grassy floor to catch her breath.

Why did Logan have to show up now? After she had become comfortable in the jungle and was married. Where was he when she was trying to decide whether to stay here or not?

" _Tarzan!" Jane exclaimed when the wild man suddenly landed on the ground in front of her. "I was so afraid that you wouldn't come in time. The boat's arrived, the boat that's come to take us home, to England. And daddy and I were wonder – well, I was wondering . . . well, we really hoped that you'll come with us, won't you?"_

 _He considered this for a second. "Go see England today, come home tomorrow."_

 _Her face fell at this. "Oh no, well, you see, it would be very difficult to come back . . . ever."_

" _Not come back?"_

" _Oh no, no, no," she said quickly at his downtrodden expression. "I know it sounds awful, but you belong with us, with people."_

 _Tarzan brought out a wilting flower that he had been hiding and held it out to the woman. "Jane must stay with Tarzan!"_

" _Stay here? No, I can't stay. Look, I've got – I'm with my father and . . ." And Logan. Logan was waiting for her at home._

 _Tarzan reached out to take her hand and his voice softened. "Jane, stay."_

" _But . . ." Jane sighed. She had really enjoyed the time she had spent with Tarzan, and for some unknown reason, her heart ached at the thought of having to leave without him._

" _Please," he begged, sadness in his eyes._

" _But . . ." Logan's face came into Jane's mind again. She had promised Logan that she would marry him. She was engaged. "I . . . I can't."_

 _Not wanting Tarzan to see her cry, she ran._

Jane sat down with her back resting against a tree. Bringing her hands up to her face, she moved her fingers in a circular motion along her temple, hoping to reduce the headache.

She never thought that Logan would come after her – not to Africa. Logan loved the city and being around people. He enjoyed all the comforts of his middle-class life back in London. The idea of him running blindly through the jungle was amusing to consider.

It was even hard to imagine sometimes that she could get along so well out here. Growing up in civilization, she never would have pictured herself living in the jungle.

Closing her eyes, Jane thought back to the day she nearly left Tarzan.

 _It wasn't until Jane and her father were in the boat, heading out to sea that the man spoke up. "Jane, dear, I can't help feeling that you should stay."_

 _Jane had been staring back at Tarzan, who was watching them leave the shore, but at her father's words she turned to him in shock. "Daddy, please don't! We've been through all of this, I couldn't possibly – I – I belong in England with you . . . and Logan."_

 _He tilted his head to one side, studying her. "Do you want to be with Logan?"_

" _I – of course I do," she exclaimed._

 _He gazed back at his daughter. "But you love him." Putting emphasis on 'him', the man gestured towards Tarzan. "I just don't want you to regret anything."_

She took some deep breaths, attempting to get herself together. There was no way she would be able to find her way back to her home if she didn't. Her home . . .

If Logan had come all the way out here it could only mean one thing: he still wanted to marry her. Logan, who hated everything that the jungle had to offer, had come all this way to bring her back to London.

And leave Tarzan? This was her home now. Her family, her life . . . everything was here. She didn't want to go back to England. She had never even told her husband about Logan.

Her eyes snapped open at this thought. Tarzan didn't know about Logan . . . and she had left him there, alone with her ex-fiancé. How was Tarzan going to react when he found out that she was supposed to marry Logan?

Tarzan was usually a very soft-spoken man, kind, and always willing to help people . . . unless they attempted to hurt someone he cared about. Surely Tarzan would at least listen to her side of the story before overreacting.

Jane had no intention of leaving her wild man, but how was Logan going to react when he found out that she had married another man without him knowing?

The two men were probably discussing all of this right now, back at the Trading Post. How was she going to fix all of this?

Looking around at the wildlife in front of her, she suddenly picked up on a landmark that she recognized. She wasn't that far from the tree house after all.

Putting a hand on the tree, Jane pushed herself up onto her shaky legs. She waited until she felt steady before continuing along the path. She had to figure out how she was going to explain all of this to her husband. Jane just hoped that he wouldn't be mad at her for keeping such a secret.

* * *

Jane was sitting on the couch inside the tree house, trying to focus on the words in the book she had in her hands when Tarzan suddenly appeared.

The look on the man's face wasn't hard for Jane to read. He tilted his head to the side and stared at her, squinting his eyes. She used to see that look all the time those first weeks after they met. She had worked with Tarzan to teach him English, how to read, and so much more. The look her husband had now was the same expression he had whenever he was confused or trying to work something out by himself.

As Tarzan slowly approached, Jane placed the book she had next to her.

"Who is Logan?" the man asked, still crouching on his hands and feet in front of his wife.

She stared back at the man for a couple seconds before sighing. "He was my fiancé. If I had gone back to England, like I was supposed to, I would be married to him right now."

The wild man moved to sit on the couch next to Jane, confusion clouded his face. "If you were engaged to another man . . . why did you stay here? Why did you marry me?"

Jane looked down at her lap, examining her hands. Remembering the day that she had first left England, she tried to think of the right words to explain the choices she had made.

 _Jane stood at the edge of the harbor, gazing up at the massive ship that was to take her and her father to their destination. It was only a month ago when her father had burst into their small townhouse, and greeted her with the news that he had been granted the money needed in order to go to Africa to study the gorillas. This had been a dream of his for years, and he had promised Jane that if the opportunity presented itself, she would be allowed to travel with him._

 _Her heart was pounding in excitement. She couldn't wait to see the creatures up close, with her own eyes, and the best part was that she would be working right beside her father in his studies._

" _Jane!"_

 _Turning around to find the source of the voice, Jane's eyes came in contact with a man that had become quite familiar to her over the past couple of months. "Mr._ _Eddington_ _!" she cried, smiling up at him as he approached. "I was starting to think you weren't going to make it in time to say goodbye."_

 _He gave a soft chuckle as he came to a stop in front of the woman. "Mr._ _Eddington_ _? Still? We are going to be married in a couple of months, Jane. Please, call me Logan," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder._

 _She flinched slightly at the reminder. It wasn't that she didn't want to marry Mr._ _Eddington_ _. He was friendly enough._

 _They had first met several years ago when he was assigned to aid Jane's father with a couple of projects, some of which she had also helped with. This had given her and Logan time to get to know each other, and she didn't have anything against the man in general. Her only concern was how strict his views were on the roles of the woman when it came to marriage._

 _In England, women were permitted to work outside of their family homes until they were married. Once wedded, the custom was for the wife to commit to a life at the house and focus on raising the children. Logan had already made it clear that once they were married, Jane wasn't going to be allowed to work with her father anymore or help either of them with their projects._

 _The wedding was planned to take place just a couple days after Jane and her father returned from Africa. If Logan had his way, this would be her last chance to make her mark in the field of science. She still wasn't sure if she could live with that._

She took a deep breath to help steady herself before beginning. "Back in England, women are treated more like property than anything else. They have to listen and obey their husband's every command. I was never comfortable with that tradition back in London. I never wanted to be treated like that by the person I married." Jane paused in her rant to look up at her husband, placing a hand on the man's cheek before continuing. "But then I came here and fell in love with you. I like it here. You don't treat me like how men treat their wife's back in London. You don't order me around." Jane shook her head with a soft sigh. "I don't want to go back . . ."

Tarzan reached up to grab the hand that was touching his face and held it in his own. "Then you will stay here. He can't make you go back."

"But – even as my fiancé he's allowed to . . ."

"Jane, you are not in England anymore so you don't have to listen to their customs, and you're not engaged to Logan, you are my wife!" he stated, putting emphasis on 'my'. "If you want to be here, then this is where you are staying."

She shook her head back and forth. "You don't know Logan. He's going to insist on it."

Tarzan gave her a small smile. "We will handle this like we have done everything else," he replied, placing a hand gently on his wife's cheek. "Together."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After announcing to the man in the loincloth that he was Jane's fiancé, Logan watched the strange man make a hasty retreat into the jungle after the woman.

"What was that all about?" he pondered. The young man obviously knew Jane, seeing as to how quickly the wild man jumped in to try and protect his future wife. The man had even appeared shocked when he had spoken of his plans to marry the young woman.

Something wasn't right here.

It had been almost a year since Jane left with her father to come to Africa. Far too long to simply come and study the gorillas. As the months had rolled by with no word from his fiancée, fear started to seep into his veins. Something had to have happened to keep Jane from returning home as planned. Making the arrangements to journey out here after the woman was difficult, but seeing Jane again . . . that had made it all worth it.

He had assumed that when he came for her, Jane would be ecstatic to see him again. Logan didn't know how many times he had pictured seeing her beautiful smile appear on her face and having her eyes light up at the sight of him after all this time, but that hadn't happened. The way her eyes had widened in shock, and her sprint back into the jungle. His pretty, smart, and bubbly Jane had seemed to be almost . . . scared of him.

Turning around, Logan spotted two of the workers that he had seen when he had first arrived. One of the men – the tall, skinny one – was taking a break from his labor, sitting down on a box that had been placed on the deck. His chubby, short friend was leaning against another container close by. He believed he had heard someone address them as Hugo and Hooft.

"Excuse me!" Logan called to the pair as he approached. "That _'wild man'_ that was just here, do you know him?"

"Sure," exclaimed the fat one, pushing himself away from the crate. "Nature boy saved our lives not too long ago."

"Why do you ask?" the skinny one added, leaning forward on his box.

Ignoring the question, Logan continued his prodding. "Is something going on between him and Jane?"

"Going on?" the skinny one repeated.

"They're married, if that's what you mean," the other spoke up.

Logan felt his heart skip a beat in his chest at the news. He stared at the two men in shock. "Married?" he slowly asked. "Are you sure?"

The two men shared a confused look with each other before turning back to face him.

"Pretty sure," one of them nodded.

"Tarzan has been married to Jane for almost a year now."

* * *

"Wait, hold on!" Terk cried, leaping down from the chair she had been sitting on. She strolled over towards Jane on her hands and feet. Reaching her destination, she pointed a finger at the young female. "You're telling me that you were engaged to another man?!"

Jane and Tarzan were discussing their situation with Terk, Tantor, and Jane's father – the Professor. The group had gathered in the Professor's camp to decide what they were going to do about their new visitor.

Jane sighed and shook her head slowly back and forth. "It was a long time ago . . . and a part of me wanted out of the engagement from the beginning."

Terk sent her a glare before turning her back on the woman. The young gorilla had been a source of encouragement for the wild man ever since he became the pack's leader. Because of this, Jane didn't take Terk's action to heart. The gorilla was only concerned about her friend.

"Oh, come on Terk," Tantor spoke up, as the gorilla stormed by him. "Jane already said she doesn't love the guy. She wants to stay here with Tarzan."

As the two friends began to bicker back and forth about the issue at hand, Tarzan and Jane turned towards the Professor.

"I'm sorry about this, dear boy," the old man sympathized, placing a hand on Tarzan's shoulder. "I never thought Logan would come all this way to try and bring Jane back to England." Leaving his hand where it was on his son-in-law, he turned to look over at his daughter. "Surely if we just explain to him what happened . . . that you decided to marry someone else . . ."

Jane let out another sigh before making eye contact with her father. "Worth a try, I guess," she began with a shrug. "But I really can't see him giving up on this very easily, especially after making the trip all the way out here to find me. I mean . . . the cost of getting a ship and crew together, the time to travel all the way out here. He obviously went through a lot to make it this far. I can't see him agreeing to go back empty-handed very easily."

"True," her father agreed, nodding to himself. "A trip out here from London is not an easy one to arrange, but that just proves how much the man cares about you." He held up a hand as Jane attempted to interrupt him. "I'm saying you need to talk to him. If Logan really does care about you this much, he would want you to be happy. You just need to tell him the truth."

* * *

After getting himself back under some control from his initial shock, Logan asked the two young men if they would be able to escort him through the jungle to find his fiancée and her supposed husband. He needed to hear the news from Jane herself.

Hugo and Hooft agreed, and after getting permission from their boss to leave, the three men set out into the dense cover of trees.

Logan Eddington had never been much of an outdoorsy type. The icy, bitter wind of the winters back in England made him shiver just thinking about it, and in the summer he hated the feeling of sweat matting his forehead after venturing out into the heat.

Now, hiking through the cover of trees, Logan had never felt a heat so scorching. The cover from the towering trees didn't seem to be helping his situation at all. Sweat quickly started to drip down every inch of his body, making him feel irritable. It didn't take long for him to start feeling extremely uncomfortable in his heavy brown coat.

It wasn't only the boiling sun that was causing Logan's angry to grow, but he was becoming more and more discomforted with his new surroundings. Nothing about the jungle was familiar to him, from the exotic wildlife to the sounds of the wild animals. Every growl or hiss that he heard around him made him jump and spin around in search of the source of the noise.

Every fiber in his body was screaming at him to turn back for the ship and return to England where he had all the comforts of home, but he had to at least talk to Jane first. He had to know if the young woman was truly happy here in this landscape. If she really insisted on staying here . . . he would have to find a way to change her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After discussing the situation with their friends and Jane's father, the young couple thought it would be best to get the uncomfortable confrontation over with as soon as possible. Slowly, they began to make the long trip back towards the Trading Post in silence.

Jane wished she could know what Tarzan was thinking. He had seemed to take the news about her past relationship in stride, but she knew he had to feel at least a little hurt about what was going on.

"I'm . . . sorry," she hesitated before going on. "I should have told you about Logan sooner . . ."

Her husband simply shrugged, keeping his eyes on the path in front of them. "It was a long time ago, and besides," he paused to glance up at his wife, smiling. "You're here now."

"Tarzan!" a familiar voice called.

Jane and Tarzan turned to find Hugo and Hooft waving at them as they appeared around a tree. The couple returned the wave in a happy greeting, until Logan came into view.

"Logan . . ." Tarzan whispered in a low growl.

Surprised at the hostility in his voice, Jane turned to see the muscles in his jaw tightening. Obviously, he wasn't as okay with this as he said he was.

"Jane."

Looking up, Jane's eyes made contact with her ex-fiancé just a couple feet in front of her. Jane could tell that the jungle was already starting to get to him. Logan's face was slightly red from the heat and his shoulders were slumped. He looked hot and tremendously uncomfortable with his surroundings.

"Can we talk?" he begged.

Feeling the tension in the air, Hugo and Hooft shuffled over to stand with Tarzan to watch as Jane and Logan moved a little ways off to talk.

It had seemed like forever since Logan had been this close to Jane. He couldn't help giving her a quick look over from top to bottom. She looked great.

"Jane . . ." he sighed, reaching out a sweaty hand to caress her cheek, but Jane quickly pushed the gesture away and took a small step back. This wasn't going at all like he had planned. "Jane . . . I've been so worried about you. Are you okay? When you didn't return home as planned, I . . ." he stumped over his words, everything coming out in one breath.

"I'm sorry," the woman replied. "I was planning on coming back, but . . ." She glanced in Tarzan's direction, a small smile appearing at her lips.

Following her gaze, Logan saw the wild man that had attacked him earlier. The man was squatting on his hands and feet next to the two men that had guided him into the cover of trees. Logan couldn't help sending a glare in his direction.

"You stayed here for him?" he questioned.

Turning back to look at Logan, Jane gave a small shrug. "Tarzan was raised here by the gorillas. When my father and I first arrived here, he rescued me and . . . afterwards, we started spending some time together. He would come by our camp practically every day and I taught him how to read and speak . . . Somewhere along the way . . ."

"You fell for him?" he asked. He gestured towards the wild man as he went on. "He's dirty, a savage. Animals raised the man! He's not suitable to be a husband, not for you."

Jane gawked at the man in front of her. She had expected him to be persistent and insist that she return with him, but she didn't think the conversation would progress this fast. He was already starting to sound angry.

"At least he cares about me," she prompted. "He doesn't try to boss me around or control what I do all the time."

"He doesn't care what you do? You're telling me that this man lets you run around the jungle by yourself?! It's dangerous out here, Jane! Anything can happen to you! It doesn't sound like he cares about your safety at all." Irritation was growing in Logan's voice. Why couldn't Jane see that she didn't belong here? "And when have I ever tried to control you?"

When has he tried to control me? she thought. Flashbacks started to go around and around in her head. Every time he took control of situations or disregarded her opinions. He would tell her all the time that something wasn't ladylike for her to work on or participate in. She tried to express to him all the frustration he had caused her over the years, but he just shrugged it all off.

"Tarzan has been helping me, teaching me some tricks to survive in the jungle when he's not around. I can handle myself well enough," Jane explained. "And you're right. It's not your fault; it's civilization. There are so many rules back in London about what men can do that women can't. When we were planning our wedding, you wanted us to blend in as a typical English family, but I didn't want that. I never wanted to live like that."

She never saw the slap coming. One second Logan was glaring daggers at her, and the next a sharp pain pierced the side of her face. Staring back at the man in shock, she slowly reached a hand up to touch her throbbing cheek.

Getting into her face, Logan started to thrust his index finger at her, as if he were scolding a child. "You don't talk to me like that! You – "

Something suddenly rushed passed Jane, and Logan was thrown back against a tree. Blinking back a couple tears that had been threatening to spill over, Jane focused her attention on Tarzan's back as he pinned a shocked Logan by the shoulders.

"Bloody hell – ?" Logan cried, struggling in Tarzan's grip. "Let go of me, you savage!"

"You hurt Jane!"

Logan froze, breathing heavily as he stared up at the wild man.

Tarzan was furious. He had never witnessed someone physically hurting his wife before. The idea of her being in any pain made him feel sick. There was much about civilization that he did not understand, but this was the most confusing thing yet. Why would this man, who supposedly cared about Jane, hit her?

"Jane is _my_ fiancée!" Logan exclaimed. "She belongs with me! This place will kill her!"

"No," Tarzan growled. "You hurt her. She belongs here. She married _me_ , not you. I'm not going to let you take her away, especially if she doesn't want to."

"You don't know what she wants," Logan argued, licking a bit of sweat from his lip, "or needs."

As anger coursed through Logan's veins, he attempted once more to force his way out of Tarzan's grip, but it was no use. Tarzan wanted to tell this creep off, maybe leave him with a couple dozen bruises, but he knew Jane would be upset at him for taking it that far. Besides, this scum wasn't worth it.

"Hugo! Hooft!" Tarzan called to his friends, not taking his eyes off of his victim. "Take Logan back to the Trading Post. Make sure he leaves on the next ship out."

"Sure," Hugo replied, as the pair approached the two men. They were both clearly shocked about how fast things had escalated.

Tarzan roughly shoved his wife's ex-fiancé in the direction that the trio would be heading in, causing the man to stumble slightly, but he managed to stay on his feet. With one last glare from the abuser and apologetic looks from their friends, the group moved out of view on their way to their destination.

"Jane," Tarzan called, getting her attention. The man stepped in front of her and placed his hand gently on the skin that Logan had injured. "Are you alright?"

A few of the tears that Jane had been fighting against found their way down her face. Nodding her head, she said, "I'm fine."

* * *

Early the next morning, Tarzan squatted with his hands and feet digging into one of the branches of a tree that was located at the top of the hill. Below him to his left laid the Trading Post, and the vast ocean spread out before him. From his place in the tree, he could just make out the workers moving around on the deck as they loaded boxes onto a boat; the boat that was going to take Logan Eddington back to London.

"Has he left yet?"

Tarzan didn't need to look to know it was Jane who had joined him from below.

"Not yet. They are still loading the ship," Tarzan explained. He started to make his way down the tree, stopping at the lowest branch that lay just above his wife's head.

A couple minutes passed in silence as they watched the boat being prepared to leave.

"There is something I don't understand," Tarzan stated slowly, breaking the quiet.

"What's that?" his wife asked, keeping her eyes locked on the people moving below them.

"Logan . . . likes you, right? He cares about you?" he questioned, glanced down at the top of the woman's head.

Jane simply shrugged in response.

The man turned his gaze back to the ocean. "Then why did he hit you?"

The woman sighed. "It's how some men show their love. They get jealous or angry. It makes them feel powerful and in control over something in their life." Jane turned to look up at her husband. "If someone continually hurts someone else like that they call it abuse."

Tarzan jumped to the ground to sit with her in the grass. "He has hit you before?"

Jane could hear a raspy hint appear in his voice, telling her that his anger was building even at the thought of Logan hitting her, and she quickly shook her head to reassure him.

"No, nothing like that had happened before. Yesterday was the first time Logan had ever hit me." She turned back to look out at the sea. "But, it does give me an idea of what my life could have been like if I had gone back to him instead of staying here."

Tarzan turned to follow Jane's gaze as they sat side by side in the tall grass. Their arms lightly brushed against each other as they silently watched the waves roll in.

"I'm sorry," Jane eventually added.

"You're sorry? Logan is the one that should apologize," Tarzan explained. "You did nothing wrong."

"No . . ." she agreed. "But I still should have told you about Logan. There's actually a lot about my life back in London that you don't know about."

"Why don't you talk about it?"

Jane shrugged. "It's a different world over there. Being here . . . it feels like none of it matters. But now," Jane gestured towards the Trading Post before continuing, "Logan has broken through that barrier. A part of my old life found a way to sneak into this one."

Tarzan nodded, turning back to look at the ocean. He may not have grown up in civilization, but he had seen plenty of pictures that showed what its people and places looked like. Life did appear to be quite different where his wife came from.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Jane nudged her husband's arm with her elbow to get his attention, giving him a small smile. "I want to tell you."

The past that had been haunting Jane for months may have caught up with her, but that didn't mean she was going to let it affect the rest of her life with Tarzan. As she began to pour her heart out to her loving husband, the pair watched as the ship set sail into the ocean, taking what was supposed to be her future with it.


End file.
